Finding Their Wings
by Xeelia
Summary: Anita Blake/Buffy crossover! Nathaniel finds out he has a cousin. A cousin that is far too much like him.
1. Chapter 1

Finding their Wings

Author: Xeelia

Crossover: Anita Blake/Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Rating: PG-13 for now

Main Characters: Nathaniel, Dawn

Summary: Nathaniel finds out he has a cousin. A cousin that is far too much like him.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective creators, AKA not me. Not done for Profit.

Nathaniel and Anita were waiting impatiently at the airport. Why were they at the airport? To pick up Nathaniel's long lost cousin.

Anita was more worried about Nathaniel then she was of meeting his newly found cousin. She wasn't sure that Nathaniel could really take care of the girl by himself. She bit her lip and thought back to the day before and the call that had changed everything.

_Ring ring ring_

Anita groaned but answered the phone. "Hello."

The woman on the other end sounded hushed and nervous. "Um. Yes, hello, may I speak to Nathaniel Graison?"

Anita frowned. "May I ask who's calling?"

The woman sounded almost scared. "My name is Lisa Struthers, I am an intern at the office of Child Services in Los Angeles. It is urgent that I speak to Mr. Graison about his cousin."

Anita relayed the information to Nathaniel in the kitchen and handed him the phone. Nathaniel looked totally confused and put the phone on speaker. "Hello Miss Struthers, I don't know who you are talking about but I don't have any cousins."

Lisa Struthers sighed. "This is the deal; your mother had a sister who ran away when she was seventeen, this sister, Joyce, had two daughters. Now Joyce Summers, that would be the aunt you didn't know about, was killed, as well as her elder daughter, Buffy, in a car accident almost four years ago. The remaining daughter, Dawn, was sent to live with her father but recently he was arrested and imprisoned. The only biological family this girl has is you. The state won't allow her into foster care so you are her only hope."

Nathaniel was shocked at the deluge of information. "Why am I her only hope?"

Anita watched in confusion.

Miss Struthers cleared her throat. "Because while under the care of her father Miss Summers was infected with lycanthropy. The state will not allow her to go into foster care and if a blood relation can't take her then she is going to be sent to a safe house. She's only seventeen. Her case worker wasn't even going to call you, she just wanted to send the kid away."

Nathaniel's stomach dropped. He looked at Anita who nodded her head. "What do I need to do to get guardianship of her?"

Miss Struthers sighed in relief. "All you have to do is call her case worker, Mrs. O'Neal, and state that you are Nathaniel Graison and you want her, because of her condition they won't ask any other questions. Once she gets to St. Louis you will have to show a picture ID and sign a form stating that you take guardianship and completely responsibility for her and have a witness there. That's it."

Nathaniel hung up and looked at Anita. Anita smiled slightly, "guess you better make that call then help me clear out the storage room."

He smiled and made the call.

Nathaniel had done exactly as Miss Struthers had told him to and was told that Dawn would be sent with her case worker on a flight the next morning.

Now they stood in the airport waiting. The excitement and nervousness rolled of Nathaniel in waves.

Finally the announcement came over the loudspeaker that Dawn's flight was landing. Nathaniel was near panic but Anita was able to calm him.

They watched as people disembarked and met up with family or friends, Nathaniel always watching for a teenage girl. Anita was the one to actually see Dawn though.

She knew instantly that this girl was Nathaniel's cousin. She looked just like him. The same long auburn hair, the same long body, though her eyes were more of a lavender color whereas Nathaniel's were more lilac. Anita nudged Nathaniel and he looked and saw her too.

He called out for her.

The woman accompanying Dawn, Mrs. O'Neal, was a tall, wide, woman with short curly hair and a permanent scowl. "I assume you are Nathaniel Graison?"

Nathaniel nodded and produced his ID. He took the opportunity to use his senses to figure out what type of were Dawn was. He was pleased and mildly shocked to realize that like him she was a wereleopard. "Hello Dawn, I'm Nathaniel."

Dawn gave Nathaniel a tiny smile as she realized he was like her. "Hi."

Dawn stood quietly with her head and eyes tilted down. It seemed to Anita that the girl was trying to pull herself inside herself. "Hello Dawn, I'm Anita. I am a very close friend of Nathaniel's."

Dawn looked up for a second and tried to smile but Anita could tell instantly that Dawn was terrified of her. "H-hi" was all Dawn managed to say.

Mrs. O'Neal exhaled loudly. "These people are taking you in, not many would do that with your, _condition_, so you better be nice!"

Dawn cringed and seemed to withdraw into herself. She was radiating fear.

Anita bristled at the woman. "The kid's obviously nervous, yelling at her isn't going to calm her down."

Mrs. O'Neal scrunched up her nose. "Yes well as soon as Mr. Graison signs this and you sign as a witness I won't ever have to yell at her again. She can go on being a rude little…"

Nathaniel and Anita signed quickly and with a final scowl Mrs. O'Neal handed Nathaniel a manila folder and a small box then left them alone.

Anita took the folder and box from Nathaniel.

Nathaniel could sense Dawn's fear. He set his hand on her cheek. "You're safe here, no one will hurt you."

Dawn looked up for a second and smiled slightly, like she wanted to believe him but couldn't make herself. "Thanks."

Anita put her hand gently on Dawn's shoulder. "It's really going to be OK. Now, do we need to go to the baggage claim?"

Dawn looked at the woman and bit her lip. "N-no, I mean this is all my stuff, I mean I only have this one bag. I didn't have much to begin with and the cops took most of it anyway but I have a few things. They are all in my bag right here…Sorry I'm just nervous." She immediately stopped talking and looked down.

Anita's frustration was beginning to show and quickly Nathaniel spoke. "Well let's go to the car and get out of here then we can go get something to eat before going home."

Dawn didn't nod or shake her head or speak. She simply followed as Nathaniel began to walk away.

Once they had loaded everything into the car Anita turned to Dawn. "The tip we got that you were Nathaniel's cousin and in need of guardianship mentioned that your father is in jail. Why is that?"

Nathaniel bit his lip as he watched Dawn cringe. "He was arrested for running an underage brothel. That's how I got infected."

Anita swore, she hadn't meant to open the girl's fresh wounds but she went for broke anyway. "How long ago were you infected?"

Dawn looked down and spoke quietly. "I was infected three and a half years ago last week, when I was fourteen."

Nathaniel's emotions were rolling from sadness, anger, guilt, and love. He whispered to her. "I'm sorry."

Dawn lifted her head slightly. "You didn't do anything, you didn't even know I existed. Now you know and you claimed me. Thank you for taking me in. I promise I'll be good."

Anita felt a twinge at that. The girl was terrified that she'd do something wrong and they'd send her away. She was too much like Nathaniel.

The rest of the ride was passed quietly. They decided, or really Anita decided since neither Nathaniel nor Dawn would voice an opinion, to wait and eat at home. As they pulled in Dawn yawned.

Anita turned. "Nathaniel can get you settled and you can take a nap before dinner if you want."

Dawn raised her head a bit. "I can cook. I'm really good at cooking, I can make all sorts of things."

Nathaniel petted her head. "Not tonight Dawn, you look dead on your feet."

Dawn bit her lip. "I'm OK, really."

Anita bit back the sarcastic response that came to her and instead gripped Dawn firmly but gently but her shoulders. "You have been through Hell, you will go take a nap and we will take care of the food."

They walked into the house and Nathaniel took Dawn to her room, formerly a storage room but a nice room now.

The bed was new, delivered early that morning, and so were the soft purple sheets. Dawn smiled. "Purple's my favorite color. My sheets were always red or black, they don't show stains."

Nathaniel growled softly. "No one is going to hurt you here."

Dawn sat on the bed and Nathaniel sat as well. Finally Dawn spoke, her voice full of pain. "Would you stay with me while I fall asleep? It's easier if someone's there. Nancy and I used to sleep in the same bed, but she fought back one day and, and, Daddy shot her in the head. Now no one sleeps with me."

Nathaniel was close to tears as he eased his cousin down and ran his hand from the crown of her head to her middle back over and over until they both fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Anita peaked in on the cousins then headed to the front door to intercept Micah who had just pulled up.

He knew when he walked in the door what Dawn was. "Where is she?" he asked gently.

Anita hugged Micah. "They are both sleeping. She has been through so much Micah."

She led Micah to Dawn's room. Micah gasped at how much the cousins looked alike. "Wow, she's like another Nathaniel."

Anita nodded and gritted her teeth. "Yes she is, in more ways than one. Her father is Hank Summers, the guy who was on the news last night, he was recently arrested in LA for child prostitution. "

Micah scowled, he remembered the story.

This Summers guy had four underage kids working as prostitutes in his home. No one had known because his house was also his law office so the in traffic wasn't noticed. The walls had been sound proofed and none of the kids was ever seen.

If one of his "special" clients hadn't bragged about the place no one would have known.

A police search of the grounds had turned up one dead girl aged 16, two live girls aged 15 and 17, and a boy aged 17. He knew all three had been infected but that at least the younger girl and the boy, apparently a brother and sister, had been able to rejoin their family.

Dawn was the other girl.

The man's own daughter!

Anger seethed within him but he calmed himself, anger wouldn't help her. Even though he knew she was 17 he couldn't help but notice how much younger she looked all curled up with Nathaniel. They looked like a couple of kids hiding in bed.

Anita moved in his arms a bit. "Let's let them sleep."

Later…

Nathaniel woke up to the tiny girl in his arms shaking. He could smell the tears before he saw them. "Shhh, you're safe now. We won't let anyone hurt you."

Dawn turned over and buried her face in Nathaniel's chest. "I'll mess it up. I always mess things up. I try to be a good girl…"

Nathaniel tightened his hold on her. "It's OK to mess up, it doesn't mean you're bad."

Dawn lifted her head to look at him. This was the first time she had actually looked him in the eye. "Daddy said I'm just bad, doesn't matter what I do. Why are you helping me?"

Nathaniel ran his hand down her hair. "You aren't bad. We're family and you needed me."

Dawn lowered her lavender eyes. "I don't deserve your help."

Before Nathaniel could answer he heard Micah clear his throat.

Dawn curled up into a ball and whimpered.

Micah walked into the room. "Hey it's OK, I'm not going to hurt you."

Dawn could feel the dominant energy rolling off of Micah but it wasn't angry like she normally associated with dominant weres. She peeked a look at Micah. His eyes weren't human. "Your eyes are like Gabriel's."

That one statement made both of the male weres blood run cold. Micah spoke first. "Where did you meet Gabriel?"

Dawn cowered a little. "He was daddy's business partner. He didn't come over a lot though. I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you mad."

Micah was deep in thought already when he heard that last line. His head sprung up. "I'm not mad at YOU Dawn."

The pure confusion on the girl's face made Micah cringe internally. "Gabriel was a very bad person and I still have a lot of anger towards him."

Dawn still looked unsure but nodded.

Nathaniel held her close. "This is Micah, he is the Nimir Raj of my pard. He won't hurt you Dawnie."

Micah nodded. "You're part of our pard now too, we will all protect you."

Dawn cocked her head to the side then started to cry. "I want to believe you but…"

Micah nodded again. "It will take time but for now it's time to eat."

Dinner was a quiet affair. Dawn and Nathaniel both tried to serve Micah and Anita but were firmly pushed into their chairs and told to sit and eat.

Anita gave Micah a triumphant gaze and said, "see?"

Micah nodded and both Nathaniel and Dawn looked at them with confusion but then both just shrugged.

Anita had to try had to not giggle at their mirroring of each other.

Finally Anita spoke. "Some of the other members of the pard will be here shortly. They want to meet you, especially since your Nathaniel's cousin."

Dawn bit her lip but simply nodded. She was nervous but kind of excited too. They only other leopards she had met were her father's clients and nothing like Micah or Nathaniel but she figured that since Micah was the leader, well co-leader with Anita as Nathaniel had pointed out to her, that they would probably be nice as well. She had to hope she was right.

After everyone had finished eating both Nathaniel and Dawn rose to clear the table each gathering dishes and left-overs . This time Anita did laugh at the perfect symmetry they made.

A knock on the door interrupted them. Micah answered the door to reveal Zane. "Hey so where's mini Nate?"

Micah smiled and let him in.

As he started to close the door Caleb showed up. "Hey Micah, came to see the kitten."

Micah led both men inside and was about it introduce them when Dawn turned around and froze. The sweet smile on her face turned to terror and she began to back up against Nathaniel.

Everything happened too fast for Anita to fully track.

Dawn immediately cowered and Caleb lunged at her while growling. Zane was too shocked to move but Micah acted instantly, grabbing Caleb just as his claws sliced into the girl's shoulder. Nathaniel moved and wrapped himself around Dawn and Anita pulled her gun and pointed it at Caleb.

Caleb twisted and hissed trying to get to Dawn.

Suddenly he went still and quiet. Zane had positioned himself between Caleb and Dawn and Nathaniel while Anita positioned herself there as well.

It was Anita who spoke. "What the hell is going on here?"

Dawn was sobbing and curled into a tight ball with Nathaniel wrapped just as tightly around her, their combined hair almost totally obscuring their bodies.

The rage in Caleb's eyes was intense. Suddenly he turned out of Micah's hold and bolted out the door.

He was out of sight before anyone could move


	3. Chapter 3

"What the HELL!" Anita shouted, a moment later but stilled a bit as she saw Dawn and Nathaniel cower more.

Micah ground his teeth together. "I don't know but I will find out. Right now we need to calm Dawn and Nathaniel."

Nathaniel held Dawn close, so close that had she not been a wereleopard he would have injured her. She radiated fear and her entire body was shaking Micah crouched down in front of Dawn and radiated soothing, safe feelings to calm her.

Finally he spoke. "Dawn, he's gone. Do you have any idea why he attacked you?

Dawn was still scared but the edge of panic had receded. "I-I-I c-can't tell, I promised."

Nathaniel loosened his grip on the younger leopard and began to rub her back. "Can you tell us where you met Caleb?"

Dawn shivered a tiny bit but answered "At Daddy's house."

Nathaniel growled lightly, "Was he one of your father's clients?"

Dawn lift her head a bit and spied the box the social worker had given them. She wiggled out of Nathaniel's grasp and went over to it. She opened the box and pulled out a small stack of DVDs and a bunch of pictures that were paper clipped together.

Without a word she turned the TV on and put one of the DVDs in. Anita, Micah, and Nathaniel looked on in confusion until the movie began to play.

On the screen Dawn was bound with chains to the wall of what looked like a basement and she was younger, about 14. She was crying with tears streaked down her cheeks and had obviously been beaten recently, with her skin red and streaked with dirt and blood and in some places dark bruises beginning to form. Then two men walked in.

Micah, Anita, and Nathaniel all gasped when they realized just who the two men were. There leering at a terrified Dawn was Gabriel and Caleb.

Nathaniel moved and wrapped his arms around Dawn and began to murmur nonsense into her ear. He understood that she couldn't say what she had gone through but the video would tell them.

Anita went over quickly and turned the TV off. She was practically vibrating with anger. "I think we understand Dawn."

Dawn cringed and cuddled closer to Nathaniel. Micah noticed and shot Anita a look to calm down as he went to his leopards, which were currently crouched together in front of the TV.

"Dawn, none of this is your fault, OK? But I need to ask you something really important and I need you to answer me."

Dawn nodded.

Micah swallowed before he spoke. "When was the last time you saw Caleb before tonight?"

Dawn cowered more. "I-I can't…"

Micah nodded. "How about this, I'll ask you yes and no questions and you nod or shake your head. You won't be "telling" me the answers that way."

Dawn almost smiled and nodded.

"Had you seen Caleb recently before tonight?"

Dawn nodded and Anita growled softly.

"Was Caleb there a lot? Like more than once a month?"

Nod.

"Once a week?"

Shake

"More than that?"

Dawn nodded again.

Nathaniel spoke then "Twice a week in the middle of the week, right?"

Dawn turned and looked at her cousin with shock on her face. "How did…"

Nathaniel cut her off. "He always left in the middle of the week for a couple of nights. I thought, I thought that he had a girlfriend or family thing…"

Micah groaned; this was not good, not good at all. "Nathaniel, this isn't your fault either. We had no reason to question him."

Zane, who had held back during everything, finally spoke. "That must be where he gets his money."

Everyone turned and looked at him as the pieces slid into place. Anita broke the silence. "If he's your father's partner then it's a police matter."

With that said, the tiny woman stormed out of the house.

In the LA office of Wolfram & Hart the Master of LA was seething.

"What do you mean she was sent to her cousin's house?" Angelus screamed at the lawyer standing in front of him. "She doesn't have a cousin! Are you people even trying?"

The lawyer stammered. "The cousin came out of left field sir! Apparently Joyce had a sister. Her sister is dead but her youngest son is still alive, Nathaniel Graison. (Just right click and press ignore, I checked a website and that's how it's officially spelled, I don't know if you checked as well) He didn't know about Dawn until the day after the police raided Hank's. It appears that one of the interns told him, Mr. Graison, about the familial connection and the fact the social services was about to put her into a safehouse and…"

Angelus growled loudly. "What do you mean a safehouse? She didn't do anything! She is still a child!"

The lawyer backed up a bit. "Yes well social services wouldn't allow her to go into normal foster care and …"

Angelus glared. "Start a fund and an organization to fight anyone being put into a safehouse who is either underage or has never harmed anyone. Now what do we know about this Graison person?"

The lawyer looked through his papers and jotted a note about the new organization Angelus wanted. "Um…We know he is only three years older than she is, he is also a lycanthrope, he lives with Anita Blake…"

Angelus cut him off. "He lives with Jean-Claude's human servant? Well that will make things easier. Call William, tell him what we have found…Actually have Gunn call him, you might not survive. Make sure he knows I need him to have Willow portal him here."

The lawyer nodded and scurried off.

Angelus turned toward his desk and picked up a picture of his Buffy. If she knew, well, it didn't matter he would make sure little Dawnie was safe now.

Ten minutes later his office gained an odd red glow and a portal appeared. From the portal walked first William Aurelius, also known as Spike, and his witch, Willow.

Spike was never one for formalities and got straight to the point. "Have you called JC? We need to get there and get our girl NOW!"

Angelus cleared his throat. "I was waiting to call him together."

Spike nodded and Angelus made the call. "Hello, this is Angelus Aurelius. I need to speak to Jean-Claude immediately."

The man on the other end was obviously shocked and stammered as he went to get his master. Soon Jean-Claude's voice was heard scolding the man for being unprofessional. "Angelus! How lovely to hear from…"

A barking laugh from Spike stopped Jean-Claude's greeting. "Oi! It's never good to hear from ole Angel boy and you know it! We don't have time for your poufy political crap."

Angelus scowled at his Childe. "Actually Jean-Claude I am calling in the favor you owe me. William and I need to come to St. Louis, tonight. We also need to speak to your human servant's little pet, Nathaniel Graison and his newly found cousin."

Jean-Claude's demeanor changed completely. "You expect me to just let you stomp in here and attack my people!"

Angelus and Spike both laughed but it was Spike that spoke. "We aint attacking anyone, that little kitty saved someone very important to us and we need to see her. Hell JC, I wouldn't have asked if I was going to go around snacking or eviscerating your people."

There was silence for a moment before Jean-Claude spoke. "I want your word none of my people will be harmed."

Angelus scoffed. "I can promise that no one who hasn't been in LA in the past six months will be harmed but if one of them had anything to do with Dawn's situation I will exact vengeance."

Jean-Claude's voice was steady as he spoke. "I understand and that is acceptable once you explain who this Dawn is."

Spike piped up quickly. "She's Buffy's sister."

Jean-Claude's voice was slightly tinged with anger at that. "The Hank Summers case? I thought that the girl had been killed?"

Angelus growled. "Hank was craftier then we had anticipated. Her death was faked, and the house he held the kids in was under a spell to block tracking spells. He had all his bases covered and definitely had some major preternatural help. I want to discuss this in detail later Jean- Claude, but for now do we have your permission to enter your territory?"

Jean-Claude's answer was instant. "Yes and I will have Anita bring Nathaniel and Dawn to the circus to meet with you."

Spike spoke up. "Don't tell her we are coming, Dawn that is. Who knows what her father has told her, those kids were all locked up for years with only his version of what the outside world was like. We know for a fact that he told the kids that lycanthropes were shot on sight and that legislation was passed to kill all vampires. He fed them all sorts of lies."

Jean-Claude agreed and the three Master Vampires hung up.

Willow grinned widely. "Well guys, let's go get our little sunshine back!"


	4. Chapter 4

The symbols represent a non-English language "translated" into English.

It took Jean-Claude almost an hour to convince Anita to bring Dawn and Nathaniel to the circus. He couldn't give her much information, in the end he simply told her that Dawn's friends had believed her dead and feared that she believed the same of them. Anita relented and agreed, still slightly annoyed.

Anita, Micah, Nathaniel, and Dawn arrived at the circus, Dawn giggling at the clowns with fangs. The childish laughter put the rest of the group in a calmer mood, though tensions still ran high. Meetings at the circus were never the safest things in the world.

Angelus, Spike, Willow, and Gunn waited impatiently for Dawn to show up, Willow had teleported them to the circus just as Jean-Claude had gotten Anita to agree to come and they were about ready to simply leave and find Dawn themselves when Anita and her group finally walked in..

Anita eyed the new comers with suspicion. "How do you know these people aren't lying?" She accused, the small amount of patience she had already stretched thin enough to break. "That girl has gone through hell! Did you even verify that they knew her?!"

Spike, never one to let sleeping dogs lie, spoke up immediately. "Dawn's favorite color is purple, her favorite food is anchovy pizza, her favorite poet is me, and her full name is Dawn Marie Summers." As he shot out the responses, he glared at this woman who thought (that) she had the right to judge them. She knew nothing of what their little group had been through. "I helped raise that girl and I will not be responsible for my actions if–"

Willow cut him off before he could finish. "I understand your position Ms. Blake but we are who we say we are. I am sure that between you, Asher, and Jean-Claude, you can stop anyone here that would try something so please let's cut to the chase, bring in Dawnie and she can verify who we are."

Anita gritted her teeth. "Fine but if _anything_ happens to her I swear Jean-Claude you will not be happy."

The door opened and in walked first Micah, then Nathaniel and Dawn. Dawn was huddled up close to Nathaniel; Nathaniel had his arm around her and was murmuring to Dawn, trying to keep her calm in the face of all the swirling anger in the room.

As soon as he saw her Spike's heart broke. "That bastard of a father broke her! He broke the Lil' Bit, 'm gonna kill him slow, very fucking slow."

Dawn raised her head a bit and saw who else was in the room, gasping she starting walking slowly towards Spike. "But, but Daddy said you were dead, that you were all…"

Willow wanted to gather her friend into her arms but held off so she could explain. "We thought the same of you. The house you were at was spelled against tracking spells. Your father's old house burnt to the ground and your DNA was found there. He was a good actor, we all believed him. I'm sorry Dawnie. I'm so sorry…"

Dawn blinked, finally really registering what she was seeing. It had been so long, and believing them dead had been one of the things that broker her. "SPIKE!" She ran full speed to the bleached blond vampire. Said vampire instantly hugged the girl to him. "Daddy showed me pictures, you were dead, tortured and dead, but you aren't, you're here."

Spike ignored the growl that wanted to grow in his chest at that and simply purred to her. "I'm here Bit, no one's ever gonna hurt you again." Not if he had anything to do with it.

Angelus cleared his throat and Dawn's head shot up. "Angel! Daddy said you were sent back to the Vampire Council and killed!" She leaped from Spike's arms into Angelus' and he gripped her tight, kissing the top of her head.

Jean-Claude and Asher watched in awe as two of the cruelest and most ruthless vampires they had known took turns hugging the lycanthrope girl. She looked so tiny and breakable in their arms that both Jean-Claude and Asher wanted to swoop in and "rescue" her. They both stayed their hand because of the sheer joy on the girl's face.

Willow and Gunn chuckled, which got Dawn's attention. She was past words as she hugged them both in turn.

Finally Micah spoke up, voicing what everyone else wanted to say… "Dawn will you introduce us?"

Dawn looked back and for the first time Micah got a direct look into her eyes. He had never seen her meet anyone's eyes for long but this time she did. Micah had to smile at how much her friends had helped her already.

Dawn actually grinned- a wide, toothy smile that still couldn't convey her happiness. "I'm sorry! This is Angelus Aurelius Master of LA, William Aurelius Master of Sunnydale - but he goes by Spike - Willow the Red Witch, and Charles Gunn one of the lawyers that works for Angelus at Wolfram & Hart."

Anita inhaled sharply at the mention of the two vampires being not only masters but Masters of their own territories. The mention of Wolfram & Hart made her smile, she knew of the work the Law firm had done in getting laws made to help lycanthropes.

Dawn turned to her old friends and introduced her new friends. "This is Anita Blake, my Nimir-Ra and Micah my Nimir-Raj." Then she smiled as she looked at her cousin. "And this is Nathaniel Graison, my cousin."

Jean-Claude was a bit annoyed that Anita hadn't introduced Dawn to him or Asher and informed Anita, through the marks, of his displeasure.

Anita rolled her eyes. "Dawn? I would like to introduce you to Jean-Claude, Master of St. Louis and Asher, his second."

Dawn turned on a dime and curtsied. Pleased to meet you sirs. I thank you for allowing me in your territory and for the hospitality of your human servant. she spoke in perfect French.

Angelus and Spike grinned widely at her perfect manners, and Jean-Claude and Asher both nodded and smirked. The girl had obviously been raised around vampires.

Jean-Claude nodded his head and answered her. You are most welcome little kitten. Your manners are exceptional, especially for a non-vampire. Tell me, how did you come about such knowledge?

Dawn blushed, the blood spreading across her face in a warm wave. I was raised by Angelus' Sunnydale kiss before he took over L.A and by Spike's after that until my mother was killed.

Jean-Claude smiled, a real smile. "I do hope you will stay in our fair city, but for tonight all business talk is off limits. We shall celebrate the reunion of you and your friends."

Dawn's smile seemed to light up her eyes. "Thank you."

Angelus nodded. "We are very thankful for all you and your people have done for Dawn. If you are willing I would like to discuss our business tomorrow, there are many things we need to figure out."

Jean-Claude nodded. "Yes, of course."


End file.
